Rodrigo Lara Zendejas: La Paz

Artist Rodrigo Lara Zendejas reimagines the garden of his youth in a new multimedia installation presented in La Paz.

Searching for moments where contemporary life and faith collide, Rodrigo Lara Zendejas builds an atmospheric installation with clay sculptures, paintings, projection and sound to recall the experience in his first studio: his grandparents’ garden in La Paz, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. He combines busts and statuettes of everyday people with iconic saints like those found on common memorials placed in cemeteries, gardens and outdoor shrines. More lively and playful than elegiac, Zendejas’ installation emphasizes the importance of a space for religious wonder and personal growth.

Zendejas’ work often deals with issues of immigration and the emotional fragmentation that happens when relocating to another country. He has also tackled difficult topics of corruption in Mexican politics and the Catholic Church through his figurative sculptures. In La Paz, Zendejas continues to explore these themes through a more nostalgic lens.

About Rodrigo Lara Zendejas

Rodrigo Lara Zendejas (b.1981, Mexico) is a sculptor and painter connecting political issues and historical moments and merging them with personal experiences and memories to draw connections between the past and present. He earned a BFA from Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico, and a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has received a several awards for his work including “Jóvenes Creadores,” FONCA (Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes), and the National Award for Visual Arts (2010) from Querétaro, Mexico. Lara’s work has been exhibited primarily in Mexico in addition to the US, Canada, Czech Republic, and China. Lara currently lives and works in Chicago and teaches sculpture at Hyde Park Art Center.